Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-10-08

water 1t run
meth through his fingers, and yet II his
hands be but wet as though with dew, be-
hold! a generation Of fools call out, See,
ne is a wise man." Is il not so? But how
call they thee? 'Baboon,' he says and
she laughed; but that is the fashion OF
these savages, who lack imagination, and
fly to the beasts they resemble for a name.
How do they call thee in thine W coun-
try, stranger"
"They call me Holly, oh, queen" / an
swered.
"Holly,'" she answered, speaking the
word with difficulty, and yet with a most
charming accent, land what is Holly"
"'Holly' is a prickly tree" / said.
80. Well, thou hast a prickly n yet
a tree-like look. Strong, art thou, and
ugly, but, If my wisdom be not at fault,
honest at the core, and a staff to lea on.
Also one who thinks. But stay, Holly,
stand not there; enter with me and be
seated by me. would not see thee crawl
before me like those slaves. ! am aweary
Of their worship and their terror; some
times when they vex me Icould blast them
for very sport, and to see the rest turn
white, even to the heart" and She held
the curtain aside with her ivory hand to
let me pass in.
j entered, shuddering. This woman was
very terrible. Within the curtains was q
recess about twelve feet by ten, and in the
recess was a couch, and a table whereon
stood fruit and sparkling water. BY it mt
its end was a vessel like afont cut in carved
stone, also full Of pure water. The place
was softly lit with lamps formed out Of
the beautiful vessels of which / have spok-
Ell, and the air and curtains were full Of q
subtle perfume. Perfume, too, seemed TO
emanate from the glorious hair and white
~clinging yestmentS of She herself. | en-
tered the Little room, and there stood I'M
certain.
"Sit," said She, pointing to the couch.
'At present thou hast no cause TO fear me.
If thou hast cause, thou shalt not fear for
long, for | she'll Stay thee. Therefore let
thy heart be light"
/ sat down on the end Of TIN. couch near
to the font-like basin Of water, and She
sunk down softly on TO the other end.
"Now, Holly" she said, chow CONTEST
thou to speak Arabic? 1t is mine dear
tongue, for Arabian am / by my birth.
Yet dost thou not speak it as we used to
speak. Some of the words seem changed,
even as among these men. The Amahag-
ger nave debased and defled It's purity, SO
that / ave to talk to thea IA what Is to
me another tongue"
II have studied it," / answered, "for
many years. The language is spoken in
Egypt and elsewhere"
$50 il is still spoken. and there is yet an
Egypt And what Pharaoh sits upon the
throne? Still one of the spawn Of the
Persian Ochus, or are the ArchRinenians
gones''
1.-THE Persians lave been gone from
Egypt for nigh two thousand years, and
since hen the Ptolemys, the Romans, and
many others have fiourished and held sway
upon the Nile, and fallen when their time
was ripe" / said, aghast. What canst
thou know Of the Persian ArtayerXes."
She laughed, and made no a,lswer, and
again a cold chill went through me. And
Greece" she said-"is there still IA Greece?
Ali! loved the Greeks. Beautiful were
they as the day, and clever, but fierce at
heart and tickle, Notwithstanding"
Yes" l said, ''there is a Greece; and
just now is it once more a people. Yet the
Greeks of to-day are not whaV the Greeks
of the old time were, and Greece herself Is
but a mockery of the Greece that was"
$50. The Hebrews, are they yet at
Jerusalem? And does the temple that the
wise king built stand? And if SO. what
God do they worship therein? Is their
Messiah come, of whom they talked 50
much, and does he rule the earth?"
1.-The Jews are broken and gone, and
the fragments OF their people strew the
world, and Jerusalem is no more. As for
the temple that Herod built"
"Herod?" she said. Il know not Herod.
But go on"
The Romans burned it, and the Roman
eagles flew across its ruins"
80, so! They were a grea. people, those
Romans, and went straight to their end
-ay, they sped TO ii like Fate, or like their
oN n eagles on their prey-and left peace
behind them"
"~Solitudinem ~faciunt, pacem appellant"
/ suggested.
"Ah, thou canst speak the Latin tongue,
too" she said. in surprise. 1T hath a
strange ring in my ears after al these
days, and it seems to me that Thy accent
does not fall as the Romans put it. Who
was il wrote that? | know not the saying,
but 1t Is a true one Of that great people. 1t
seems that ! have met a learned man-One
whose hands nave held The water Of the
worlds knowledge. Knowest thou Greek
also?"
Eyes, oh, queen, and something Of He
brew, but not to speak them. They are all
dead languages now"
She clapped her hands in childish glee.
"Of a truth, ugly tree that thou art, thou
growest the fruits of wisdom, oh, Holly"
she said. But OF those Jews, whom /
hated, for they called me 'heathen,' when
/ would have taught them philosophy.
Did their Messiah come, and doth he rule
the worlds"
Their Messiah came" I answered. with
reverence; but he came poor and lowly,
and they would have none OF him. They
scourged Him, and cruc'6ed Him upon q
tree, but yet His words AMI His works live
on, for He was the Son Of God. and now OF
a truth, He rules half the world, buG not
with an empire of The word"
"Ah, the fierce-hearted wolves" she
said, "the followers OF Sense, sud If many
gods-greedy Of gain. anI f~action-torn! 1
can see their dark faces vet. 81 they cru
Gifted their Messiah? Vol can i bthevei It'll
That He was a Son OF the IL ms Spirit
would be naught To them IL ipGeoG Hs was
so, and OF that we viii Ia If eryvard.
They would care naugnf for any GOD If he
came not with ponp ana po@er. They, q
chosen people, a vessel OF Finn tiicy called
-